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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) Health Benefits and Side Effects

Marshmallow is a genus Althaea, belonging to the family Malvaceae, native to Africa. The herb has been used in tradtional medicine as a medicinal plant and ornamental plant in treating irritation of mucus membranes, such as mouth and throat ulcers, and gastric ulcers, cough, etc.

2. Irritation of mucous membranes Aqueous extracts from the roots of Althea officinalis L. (Malvaceae) and its effect on irritated mucosa, found that Aqueous extracts and polysaccharides from the roots of A. officinalis are effective stimulators of cell physiology of epithelial cells which can prove the traditional use of Marshmallow preparations for treatment of irritated mucous membranes within tissue regeneration, according to "Aqueous extracts and polysaccharides from Marshmallow roots (Althea officinalis L.): cellular internalisation and stimulation of cell physiology of human epithelial cells in vitro" by Deters A, Zippel J, Hellenbrand N, Pappai D, Possemeyer C, Hensel A.(2)

3. Cough suppressive effectIn the assessment of isolation from the roots of medicinal plant Althaeaofficinalis L., showed various biological effects on the citric acid-induced cough reflex and reactivity of airways smooth muscle found that On the contrary, pretreatment of animals with selective 5-HT(2) receptors antagonist significantly decreased rhamnogalacturonan antitussive efficacy. From this point of view it seems that the cough suppression effect of the polymer is associated with the serotonergic 5-HT(2) receptor's function, according to "Possible mechanisms of dose-dependent cough suppressive effect of Althaeaofficinalis rhamnogalacturonan in guinea pigs test system" bySutovská M, Nosálová G, Sutovský J, Franová S, Prisenznáková L, Capek P.(3)

4. Antibacterial activityIn the evaluation of the antibacterial actions of 16 herbal tinctures and theirs effect on two whole cell Escherichia coli found that Althaeaofficinalis affected microbial metabolism in spite of the lack of literature precedent, according to "The detection of antibacterial actions of whole herb tinctures using luminescent Escherichia coli" by Watt K, Christofi N, Young R.(4)

6. Whitening agentIn the researching a new agent which can inhibit the calcium mobilization found that that an extract of A. officinalis inhibits both the secretion of ET-1 from NHKC and the action of ET-1 on NHMC mainly by suppressing the ET-1-induced calcium mobilization without the modification of IP3 production, which in turn suggests that this extract is a useful ingredient for a whitening agent, accoridng to "Inhibitory mechanism of an extract of Althaeaofficinalis L. on endothelin-1-induced melanocyte activation" by Kobayashi A, Hachiya A, Ohuchi A, Kitahara T, Takema Y.(6)

7. Etc.

Side effects1. The liquid form of Marsmallow contains sugar, please consult with your doctor before taking the herb, if you have diabetes.2. As always, do not use the herb in children, or if you are pregnant or breast feeding without approval of the related field specialist.3. Etc.